The role of summer surface wind anomalies in the summer Arctic sea ice extent in 2010 and 2011

Abstract

Strong summertime anticyclonic wind anomalies over the Arctic Ocean, with anomalous flow toward the Fram Strait, during summer months of 2007 contributed to the record‐low the Arctic sea‐ice extent observed in September of that year. Had the summer winds over the Arctic during the summers of 2010 and 2011 been the same as those in 2007, September sea ice extent would have reached new record lows in those years as well. By regulating the flow of ice toward and through the Fram Strait, variations in low‐level winds over the Arctic have contributed to the month‐to‐month, year‐to‐year, and decade‐to‐decade variability of sea ice extent.